


Carving pumpkins

by tenshi6



Series: Rainbow Academy [3]
Category: Football RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Awkwardness, Halloween, M/M, Pumpkins
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-04
Updated: 2014-11-04
Packaged: 2018-02-24 01:35:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,924
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2563415
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tenshi6/pseuds/tenshi6
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Christoph made a promise and he needs help.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Carving pumpkins

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! I know I'm a bit late but happy (belated) Halloween! Here's some cute Neumer for the occasion.
> 
> This work is unbeta-ed, I checked for mistakes but I might have missed some, all blame is on me, sorry!
> 
> Please, remember to give feedback after you read my story, any kind of feedback is love and makes my day! <3

"For the love of god, what happened here?" Manuel cried out in horror as he entered the room, looking around agape as the strong smell of pumpkins hit him. His roommate was elbow deep in a pumpkin, scooping the insides out while sweating in concentration.

Christoph's head snapped up immediately, biting his bottom lip nervously. "Umm… I can explain." He mumbled awkwardly, following Manuel's gaze around the room while he was sitting in the middle of the orange mess. There were pumpkins practically everywhere; Manuel could count at least fifteen in a quick glance. There were a few failed jack-o-lanterns lying around, one had eyes that were as big as Manuel's fists, the other's mouth looked like a grotesque rectangle and there were two more which were broken in half. Christoph and the floor were covered in pumpkin seeds and flesh, painting them orange.

Manuel crossed his arms over his chest and stared at Christoph expectantly. Christoph put the pumpkin he was holding down and sighed. "So, I promised my ten-year-old cousin and his friends to take them trick or treating and they asked me if I could do some jack-o-lanterns for them and I said yes because I had no idea it would be this hard and well, apparently I really suck at this." He said it all at one go, looking down in defeat while panting for air.

Manuel took pity on him, he looked really sad and it somehow made his heart sink. However, he looked at Christoph amazed by his sheer honesty and the corners of his lips tugged upwards into a soft smile because there was just no way he could be angry at Christoph for making such a mess. Not when he looked like an abandoned puppy, causing Manuel to feel a sudden urge to go there and hug him. He resisted though.

"How many do you need to make?" Manuel asked, dropping his bag to the least dirty-looking place he could find.

Christoph sent him a confused look. "Um… I think… seven. Why?"

Manuel rolled his sleeves up. "Give me the knife." He held out his right hand but Christoph only stared at it without moving.

He flushed in embarrassment and stuttered. "You don't-don't have to… help… me." He felt so silly and the fact that Manu thought he couldn't deal with this didn't help. Well, seemingly he couldn't so Manu was right but still.

"You're right." Manuel answered with a lopsided grin. "But if I don't help, those kids won't get their promised lanterns."

He had a point, Christoph had to admit. "Fine." He handed him the knife at last and moved a bit so Manu could sit beside him and Christoph could watch his technique.

Manuel eyed the knife for a good minute then turned to Christoph. "You don't happen to have a keyhole saw, huh?"

Christoph raised his eyebrows. "Excuse me?"

Manuel shook his head, chuckling slightly. "Never mind." Then he looked at the half-done pumpkin and put it aside, picking up a new, untouched one. "Do you plan to light it with candles?" He asked while examining the fruit.

"I guess so." Christoph replied after a bit of hesitation. What kind of questions were those? How on earth would he know?

Manuel hummed thoughtfully. "Okay, let's hope they will use candles then. So, first, I'll cut a hole in the top and then you can scoop out the insides. Is that okay?" He glanced at Christoph while positioning the pumpkin.

Christoph nodded while making a sound of agreement. That he could do at least without embarrassing himself further with his lack of skills at pumpkin carving.

He tried hard not to gape in sheer awe at how professional Manu was at this whole making a jack-o-lantern thing. He cut the top off nicely even with a slight struggle, without cutting the damn fruit in half like Christoph had done.

Christoph scooped the flesh out mostly with his bare hands because he found it easier and since his hands were already covered with insides of several pumpkins, getting a bit dirtier wouldn't have made much of a difference. Even though he didn't say it aloud, he was grateful for Manuel's help. He was still struggling with the scooping of the third pumpkin when Manu was finished with cutting the tops off and he took a hollow pumpkin in hand.

"So, just two eyes and a grin, nothing special, right?" He asked nonchalantly, as if it wasn't a big deal. Well, probably it wasn't in normal situations but it meant a lot to Christoph.

However, he was pretty sure Manu had better things to do on a Friday night – especially when it was Halloween – than helping his dumb roommate fulfilling a silly promise to some kids.

"You really don't have to- I'll do that. You've already helped a lot." Christoph stuttered, blushing a bit. Manu gave him an incredulous look.

"And let you ruin everything I've done? Not a chance."

Christoph grinned back mockingly. "You are so kind."

Manuel shrugged, a small smirk appearing on his handsome face. "I'm just being honest."

Christoph had no idea what to reply to that so he just rolled his eyes and brought his focus back on his task.

Manu was a nice guy in general – Christoph figured out that much since they had become roommates in September. He could be painfully honest or simply blunt sometimes and he kept his distance but all in all, he was a nice person. And he could be funny if he wanted to. They weren't exactly friends but they got along pretty well as roommates and Christoph was happy it was Manu he got to share a room with. When he started referring to Manuel Neuer as 'Manu' in his head was still a wonder though.

Sometimes Christoph felt this sudden urge to be friends with him because he wanted to know more about him but he had no idea how to approach so he resisted, sparing himself from the highly like awkwardness. They talked often, had a few conversations about serious topics, watched a movie once in a while on Manu's Macbook and once Manu even asked Christoph to help him with his essay. Apart from these, they lived their private life and kept their noses out of each other's business. That was the reason Christoph got confused when Manu offered his help upon seeing the pumpkin-crisis.

There were also a few times – like now for example – when Manu treated Christoph like a child and Christoph had no idea what to make out of that, because they didn't have that much of an age-difference. And there were times – and those were often thank god – when Manu treated Christoph like an adult, like an equal, asked for his opinions and sometimes asked for help with small things which made Christoph unreasonably happy.

And maybe, just maybe, Christoph had a crush on him.

"Christoph?" Manuel's voice snapped Christoph out of his thoughts and he blinked dumbly at the older.

"Huh?"

Manu gave him a funny look. "I asked when you have to leave."

"Oh… umm… around… seven." He said slowly while searching for a clock with his eyes and when he found it, he froze in shock. It was 6 pm already. "Oh, shit, no, within an hour." He swore.

"It's okay, we will finish in time." Manu smiled, trying to calm him down but it didn't help much.

"No, no, I need to get dressed and do the make-up, too. Fuck. There's no way in hell I can manage that, what do I do now?" He panicked, starting to take sharp sips of the air.

On the other hand, Manuel burst out laughing all of a sudden, earning a glare from the confused and slightly hurt Christoph. He didn't need mockery right now.

"I don't find it funny." He said coldly.

Manu was visibly having a hard time to stop but after a good minute he managed to get himself together. "So-sorry." He chuckled. "It's just, are you sure you're taking the kids trick or treating and not the other way around?"

Christoph eyed him carefully then smiled sheepishly. "I like costumes, okay? But it's not funny, seriously, how will I get ready?"

"What are you dressing up as?" Manuel inquired.

"Zombie."

"How uni-"

Christoph raised a hand warningly. "Don't!"

Manuel grinned cheekily. "Okay." Then added with a thoughtful expression. "Let's finish the pumpkins then I will help with your make-up."

Christoph was startled. "Really? You can do that, too?" He asked, genuinely surprised at Manu's multiple skills.

Manuel snorted indignantly. "Oh please, I study Arts. I can draw a few fake scars."

"I know you are an art student I just-"

"A simple 'thank you' would be enough." Manuel said plainly, causing Christoph to blush a bit.

"Thanks." He mumbled with a small, shy smile then focused his attention on the pumpkins.

~~~

Christoph had no idea how but they managed to make it in time. Manu played a huge part in the success. He carved the eyes and the mouth for every pumpkin while Christoph was dressing up and then Manu helped with the make-up, just as he had promised. Well, he did it for Christoph to be exact. And the result was awesome.

Okay, the process was a bit awkward – for Christoph at least – because Manu had to lean so close to his face Christoph could feel his breath on his cheeks and that made him think of funny things, like what if he had leant forward and kissed him. Thankfully he had enough self-control not to give in. He couldn't help blushing though and there was no way in hell Manu didn't realize it, he was probably just nice enough not to point out.

"You're not going anywhere?" Christoph asked standing in the doorway, holding the huge box of jack-o-lanterns, ready to leave. Thank god he was muscular enough and didn't need Manu's help with the carrying too. That would have been too much embarrassment for one day.

"Nah, I just want to have a good night sleep after I clean up this mess." Manuel gestured around the room.

"I'm so sorry, I'd help but-" Christoph started but Manu cut him off.

"It's okay. But don't think I'm doing charity, you will do my laundry for the next two weeks." He pointed a finger at the frowning Christoph.

"Why the laundry?"

"Because I hate that the most." Manu sighed – even the thought was troublesome - then grinned.

Christoph grinned back. "Deal."

He turned to leave but Manu called his name, stopping him in halfway. "And Christoph?"

"Yeah?"

"You look great. Have fun." Manu gave him a smile that made Christoph's heart melt.

"Thanks." Christoph blushed, but couldn't hide his stupid grin. "I'll bring you candies." He winked then left, leaving Manu to stare at the closed door for several minutes, his thoughts spinning in his head, the image of Christoph's shy yet bright smile popping up in his mind constantly. Maybe he had a slight crush on this boy.

"I can't believe I fucking winked." Christoph mumbled to himself when he was sitting in his car, feeling embarrassed, pleased and happy at the same time. He couldn't stop grinning like an idiot. Something happened during the carving of pumpkins. He couldn't quite point out what, but he felt different, like a wall had been knocked over which had been standing between them ever since the day they met.

Christoph had a feeling Manu liked him. And his senses weren't wrong.


End file.
